A building designed to teach...

Project: School of Architecture, Universidad de los Andes, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia Architects: Bermúdez Arquitectos, Bogotá, Colombia

There are many things that a building can teach, but in most instances, the information remains invisible to the students. With that in mind, the concept of a ‘building that educates’ was pursued throughout the design process for Bloque C of the Universidad de Los Andes. One of the intentions behind this building was to offer the students some key lessons on the technical systems that constitute a building. ‘To make visible the invisible’. After all, teaching (to show, to point out) supposes that you should be able to demonstrate and explain what you want the student to learn.

The new Faculty of Architecture is located in the central part of the university, and plays an important role in connecting the different parts of the campus—both vertically (east-west) and horizontally (north-south). It is a connector of the different levels of the sloped terrain. It also succeeds to combine the spatial qualities of the open spaces and connections generated by the traditional buildings of the campus, with the efficiency and convenience of the recent large-scale constructions.